[EN] As the Essen fair is starting it course i have decided to present my little list of games, which has drawn my attention and look interesting. I probably won’t buy or even play them ever and i don’t follow them specifically, but something about them has spiked my interest.

[EN] Zee Garcia from the Dice Tower told about this game. This game is really unique. Players will have to match the pattern shown on the card. But they will have to do this by folding a big cloth of material which has same pictures on it to match the pattern on the card.

[EN] This game reminds Chromosome a bit. In this game the task will be to manage and improve first micro organisms of Earth. There will be a cooperative mode as well as competitive. And also a solo variant.

As a follow up to Family Showdown channel’s list i have created my own Top 10 list of favourite board games mechanisms. I have listed a few games for every mechanism that i think represent it the best (of course, of those i have actually played). Btw, i have not consulted any official list of mechanisms when doing this Top 10. So i have came up with some on my own 🙂

10. Set Collection

One of the first mechanisms you learn when starting playing modern board games (and even some traditional card games). This is also often an additional mechanism in a board game. Like in Ticket to Ride where you have to collect sets of cards of a same color to be able to build tracks. In Tokaido you collect painting cards to create a beautiful panorama (and get lots of points by doing that). There are also small games, which are all about set collection, like Jaipur or Coloretto.

9. Dice Allocation

Not just rolling of dice, but allocation their results to various actions. This feels a bit like worker placement, but in this case results on the dice matter and changes the outcome. My favorite in this genre is my most played game – Zooloretto: The Dice Game. This is essentially “i divide – you choose” type of game. When you roll the dice and select how to spread them among the trucks. And then your opponent chooses whether to take some dice or roll more. In The Voyages of Marco Polo you place dice with their values on the spots to get the according number of resources. Dice Town also allows you to select how to use your “hand” of dice. And Nations: The Dice game lets you combine a few dice into a single value to purchase a card.

In this post i will present a list of my favourite games for two players (starting with 10th place and till the first). Some of the games i mention have special variants for larger number of players or team variants (two vs two), bet they are usually considered as games for two players, so i have included them in this list.

So, let’s begin:

10. Memoir ’44

The only war game in my collection and on this list, though it’s considered as a very light war game. Very eye grabbing with colorful maps and plastic soldiers. Apparently this was the main thing which stimulated the purchase, that i haven’t played toy soldiers enough as a kid 🙂 Game’s system is very simple, based on cards pointing on which side and with what number of units you can attack. In the battle dice with special symbols are used. I’ve played a few games with father and maybe with brother, but unfortunately this game is not seeing any day light since. For the most part because of the long setup time and because board takes much space. But also because of a rather high luck factor while drawing cards and rolling dice.

9. Gobblet

Very simple abstract game, though forcing to crunch your brains and training memory. Maybe this game got on this list also because we got a very pretty wooden version of it from suppliers (which we later gifted to our co-workers in another department), or maybe because from the very beginning i was winning almost every game of it with my colleagues. Although, my unbeatable rank went down later 🙂 Oh, those diagonals, never forget about the diagonals!

8. Hive

Another abstract game. Very portable, because in the box there is a baggy which can hold all the components and the rules. Whole game is consisting of 22 tiles made of pleasant to hold plastic. This game can be played on a grass, sand, without worrying that a wind may carry cards or components may be damaged in some other way. Every tile has its own unique movement. The game is simple and fast, but it stimulates you to think hard on your moves, foresee moves, prepare for your opponent response. Maybe it can be compared with chess, but in a smaller scale, with a shorter play time and playful theme (insects).